“Mercy no! It’s going to be a wonderful day. Leslie, tell Peggy what we heard. It’s a great discovery, Peggy.”
Peggy threw across the bed her most cherished frock which she had saved for the last to show them, and clasped her hands together in her eagerness to hear what had happened. They all sat down together on Peggy’s low day bed, a pretty wicker affair which stretched at the foot of the other bed. Peggy was in the middle. A background of silk and fluffy chiffon and tulle behind them set off the three heads bent close together, as the girls related in whispers what had occurred.
Peggy was delighted, with little thought of what the discovery might imply. “Then there is a cave somewhere! Girls, we have simply got to find it! Will you go back there now with me? I’ll call Pugs, to hang up the things, and get into my knickers and sweater in a minute!”
Peggy’s maid came into the room while the girls were still waiting for Peggy to scramble from one costume into another. She tried to smile and help Peggy, but the girls could see that she had been crying. Peggy explained as soon as they started out.
“I didn’t know that dear old Pugsy cared that much for me. I’ve been a lot of trouble to her. But honestly, she’s almost a part of the family to Mother and me. Perhaps Mother can get out of it, but Dad says that Pugsy’s got to leave. I must have a maid that speaks French now! If it were Mother that wanted it, I could understand, but what does Dad care whether I speak French or not?”
“It will be fine when you travel,” said Sarita.
But Leslie, thinking of what Jack had said, wondered if Mr. Ives did not want to employ another foreigner instead of “Pugsy.”
A dark-browed maid who was dusting in the hall looked at them in none too friendly a way. Even Sarita spoke of it afterward. But Peggy paid no attention to their surroundings as they left the house behind and darted past flower beds and masses of shrubbery on their way to the rocks.
Once there, Peggy viewed the hole and was duly impressed. She had brought a flashlight, which disclosed nothing but rock beyond the hole, with a slight descent to where the loose rock had rolled. Granite walls and an arching ceiling were above.
Leslie knew that it was foolish for all of them to enter, though Sarita declared that never a rock could fall on them. Nevertheless the prospect was so tempting that Leslie crawled in after the others. There was at least good air within. They hoped to find a passage to the cave whence the voices had come; but after a short distance, which they could cover without stooping, they were stopped by a granite wall as hard as the rest of Steeple Rocks. There was a deep fissure, however, and there they could feel a decided draught.